The Hindu : Front Page : “State will provide world class infrastructure for industries”

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 18, 2007
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“State will provide world class infrastructure for industries”

Special Correspondent

— Photo: K. Pichumani

MEET BEGINS: Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi inaugurating Connect 2007 in Chennai on Monday. Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin, CII Tamil Nadu State Council chairman Gopal Srinivasan and Connect 2007 chairman S. Mahalingam are in the picture.

CHENNAI: The State Government is committed to providing world class infrastructure to support the growth of industries, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said on Monday.

In his special address at the seventh edition of Connect 2007, India’s premier ICT event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), he said, “To sustain the momentum, huge investments are required to strengthen the physical infrastructure. Our Government is committed to providing world class infrastructure to support the growth of industry in general and the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) industry in particular.”

The Chief Minister said he was also aware of the fact that the human resource base in the State had to be strengthened further. In this context he pointed out that the Indian Institute of Information Technology for Design and Manufacturing near Chennai was being set up by the Centre on his initiative. The establishment of ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu and the Finishing School were also in the pipeline.

He called upon the CII to create a model of inclusive development where access to jobs would not be the preserve of a few privileged institutions or those belonging to elite groups but would be open to all. “The CII can play a leading role in setting up training institutes in different parts of the State in collaboration with large industrial houses, which will benefit the students as well as the industries,” he said.

Mr. Karunanidhi used this opportunity to recall his address at Connect 2006, in which he said that his ambition was to make Tamil Nadu the ICT hub of South Asia by creating knowledge-driven ecosystem, leveraging entrepreneurship and promoting socially inclusive growth to achieve 25 per cent production share of the Indian ICT industry by 2011. The State was in the process of setting up IT-ITES Special Economic Zones in Coimbatore, Tiruchi, Salem, Hosur and Tirunelveli.

“The facts speak for themselves. Large IT complexes are coming up all over the state. They are expanding their operations not only in Chennai but in other parts of the State…but we are not content to rest on our laurels. Our journey continues and we have indeed miles to go,” he added.

Local Administration Minister M. K. Stalin called for coordinated and integrated approach among the various government agencies involved in urban development to achieve the objective of making Chennai a prime metropolis.

“Chennai has great strength and advantages… There is an urgent need to take an integrated long-term view in terms of addressing these weaknesses and use them as opportunities for growth. Government and government agencies, industry and NGOs must work jointly in a collaborative and inclusive manner in improving the quality of life for all its citizens across the socio-economic spectrum.”

Massive outlay

Launching the CII-City Connect programme, Mr. Stalin said a massive outlay of Rs. 45,000 crore would be utilised in Chennai to augment water supply, provide sewerage system, road connectivity and housing facilities for poor people in a span of seven years under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission scheme.

CII vice-chairman Lakshmi Narayanan said, “Innovation is the only way forward for the Indian IT industry, if it is to sustain and accelerate its growth indices… To realise the benefits of synergies across IT and the industries, professional and trade bodies need to work together to harness this next big opportunity.”

In his welcome address, CII Tamil Nadu State Council Chairman Gopal Srinivasan said they would create Vision 2025 statement for Tamil Nadu, help the State to build urban infrastructure and promote Tamil Nadu as an investment destination. The need of the hour was to create an integrated Science Park on the lines of Hsinchu Science Park in Taiwan.

IT and Communications Secretary Jainder Singh said that they were in talks with the Union Finance Ministry on the extension of tax concession to IT firms under the Software Technology Parks of India scheme beyond March 2009. “We are expecting a positive response.”

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